RECENT SID ACTIVITIES

Modern conditions of globalisation and complexity in society have influenced and characterised criminal trends. Origins of security issues have progressively become more transnational and have consequences across national and cultural boundaries. During a Bread & Brains session Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol, gave an excellent overview of the current challenges in fighting increasingly globally operating criminal syndicates: it’s more online, more international, more encompassing and with a greater impact than ever before.

A summary report on this interesting discussion can be found here soon.

11 November | SID Lecture ‘Increasing Power of Urban Agglomerations’, with Benjamin Barber

In almost every country we see a convergence of power (economic, cultural, intellectual, social) in just one or a few cities. This happens in Europe and the US, but even more so in many developing countries. These cities often bypass the national ministry of foreign affairs and uphold their own international relations. What is the agenda of these cities and how do they view their relations with governments and other non-state actors? Dr Benjamin Barber discussed the increasing power of urban agglomerations in the November SID Lecture. He is author of Jihad vs. McWorld (1995) and If Mayors Ruled The World (2013). The discussion was moderated by Peter Knip, Director of VNG International.

On Monday 28 October Renu Modi (Centre for African Studies, University of Mumbai) continued the 2013-2014 series with a lecture titled ‘South-South alliances and tri-angular cooperation’. Emerging countries have distanced themselves from the traditional development model. They are advocating for south-south cooperation as a new way of contributing to development based on equality and shared experiences. What’s new in their approach and what do we learn from this south-south cooperation? You can find the summary report of this lecture here. Watch the video below for the main points of the lecture!

In a highly relevant Bread & Brains session Eduard Nazarski, Director of Amnesty International Netherlands, spoke about the current state of Human Rights in Russia. Nazarski indicated among other things that for many people in Russia, the abstract concept of Human Rights is not a priority. Furthermore the collaboration between President Putin and the Orthodox Church in Russia, which both focus on the idea of a ‘Russian Soul’, limits the borders between which minorities can move.

One of the questions from the audience addressed the fact that Russia is a party to the European Convention of Human Rights but that it is not kept accountable to it through for example the European Court of Human Rights. Eduard Nazarski pointed out that Amnesty International does not have a tradition of taking human rights violations to the Court, but that this may be reconsidered in the future.

A summary report of this lecture and the discussion can be found here.

23 September | Opening lecture in the series ‘Dispersed Power in a World in Transition’, with Jan Aart Scholte

Jan Aart Scholte (Warwick University) succesfully opened the series ‘Dispersed Power in a World in Transition’ with a lively lecture on ‘Geo-politics and Changing Power Relations’. He discussed the power shifts we are witnessing today in world politics. There are redistributions of power with the rise of emerging countries, and re-scalings of power with the rise of local, regional, and global governance actors. What do these changes mean for the future shape of diplomacy and indeed the very governability of society and its many pressing global policy challenges? Watch the short video, summarising the main points, below.

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Who are we?

SID Netherlands is one of 45 chapters of SID International and acts as an independent platform organisation, bringing together policy makers, academics, NGOs, the private sector, journalists and others to drive forward the development debate in the Netherlands and beyond, and subsequently influencing the policy discussion.

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